The present invention relates to supervisory control methods and apparatus for micropumps, particularly for two valve-type micropumps constructed by means of silicon micro machining techniques.
Two valve-type micropumps, constructed employing silicon micro machining techniques as disclosed, for example, in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/599,298 in the name of Hajime Miyazaki et al., filed Oct. 17, 1990, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference, are capable of precise flow control in trace amounts and, therefore, particularly suited for medical care applications, such as the administration of insulin to diabetics, and chemical analysis. Where such micropumps are intended for medical applications, safety and reliability present important problems. To date there have been proposed no concrete control systems applicable to such micropumps for regulating discharge rates and monitoring clocks.